Flint water crisis prompts call for more federal oversight

By Ellen Knickmeyer and John Flesher

Published
2:02 pm PDT, Thursday, July 19, 2018

FILE - In this pMarch 21, 2016, file photo, the Flint Water Plant water tower is seen in Flint, Mich. A federal watchdog is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its oversight of state drinking water systems in the wake of the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan. In a report released July 19, 2018, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General says the agency must act now to be able to react more quickly in times of public-health emergencies.. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) less

FILE - In this pMarch 21, 2016, file photo, the Flint Water Plant water tower is seen in Flint, Mich. A federal watchdog is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its oversight of ... more

Photo: Carlos Osorio, Associated Press

Photo: Carlos Osorio, Associated Press

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FILE - In this pMarch 21, 2016, file photo, the Flint Water Plant water tower is seen in Flint, Mich. A federal watchdog is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its oversight of state drinking water systems in the wake of the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan. In a report released July 19, 2018, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General says the agency must act now to be able to react more quickly in times of public-health emergencies.. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) less

FILE - In this pMarch 21, 2016, file photo, the Flint Water Plant water tower is seen in Flint, Mich. A federal watchdog is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its oversight of ... more

Photo: Carlos Osorio, Associated Press

Flint water crisis prompts call for more federal oversight

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WASHINGTON — A federal watchdog is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its oversight of state drinking water systems nationally and respond more quickly to public health emergencies such as the lead-in-the water crisis in Flint, Mich.

In a 74-page report released Thursday, the EPA’s inspector general report pointed to “oversight lapses” at the federal, state and local levels in the response to Flint’s contaminated drinking water.

“While oversight authority is vital, its absence can contribute to a catastrophic situation,” the inspector general, Arthur Elkin, said in a statement. His office has concluded the EPA was too slow and passive in responding to the Flint crisis.

The finding comes as the Trump administration seeks to cut the EPA’s budget, including some drinking-water programs. The administration also has called for reining back federal environmental regulation overall and transferring more oversight authority of some programs to the states.

The EPA said in a statement it agrees with the inspector general’s recommendations and is adopting them “expeditiously.”

“The agency is actively engaging with states to improve communications and compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to safeguard human health,” the statement said.

But the internal watchdog said the agency’s proposal for stepping up oversight falls short.

Flint’s tap water became contaminated in 2014 after officials switched from the Detroit system to the Flint River to save money, exposing many residents to lead, a potent neurotoxin. Children are particularly vulnerable, and the EPA says there is no safe level of lead.

EPA officials had stressed they had wanted to foster a collaborative partnership with Michigan, the report said. In Flint, the quest for “partnership limited effective EPA oversight.”

Rep. Dan Kildee, who was traveling to Flint on Thursday to inspect work done on the city’s water system, said the state bore most of the blame for the slow response to the health crisis, but also said “the EPA should have been more aggressive.”

“EPA should not have taken the state of Michigan at its word” that everything was fine with Flint’s water, said Kildee, D-Mich. “Water quality is too serious a question ... without doing more to assure the rule is being properly enforced.”

The switch to the Flint River was to be temporary, until the city could connect to a planned regional pipeline from Lake Huron. At that time, the impoverished majority-black city of nearly 100,000 residents was under control of an emergency financial manager appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.

Residents complained the river water smelled and tasted bad and was causing skin rashes and other health problems. Local officials insisted it was safe.

State officials finally acknowledged the lead contamination in 2015 after doctors reported high levels of lead in Flint children’s blood and Virginia Tech University researchers said their testing of found lead levels meeting EPA’s definition of “toxic waste.”